The Web Ranking of Universities has ranked the University of Nairobi in positions 7 in Africa and 855 in the world, ahead of all other universities in the region confirming its place among the academic giants worldwide.

The University recorded a marked improvement internationally by emerging 855 out of over 25,000 ranked universities – jumping 52 places from its previous ranking in July 2014, when it emerged 907. The University of Nairobi’s performance is the best result posted by any local university since the advent of web ranking in 2004.

Compared to its peers worldwide, UoN emerged ahead of some top US universities such as California State University that holds position 862, Illinois State University 915, and Florida Institute of Technology 880, among many others. In the United Kingdom, UoN emerged ahead of famous higher learning institutions such as London Business School at 1432, University of Hull 944 and Middlesex University 994. In Africa, UoN emerged ahead of University of the Western Cape ranked at 8, University of South Africa 10, Mansoura University 11, Makerere University 13, and University of Dar es Salaam 37. Overall in Africa, the University of Cape Town emerged first followed by Stellenbosch University. The first position worldwide went to the renowned Harvard University.

According to web ranking indicators, the University of Nairobi improved in overall web presence to position 330 up from 1109. In the rich file category, which accounts for the published works in dedicated websites and institutional research repositories, the University improved to position 29 up from position 44 from the July 2014 Webometrics Rankings.

The ranking confirms the scholarly competitive edge UoN has steadily maintained in Kenya, Africa and in the world. Over the years, it has established itself as a world-class University committed to scholarly excellence offering programmes in diverse fields of specialization.

In another development, the University Digital Repository was ranked top in the region. According to the Ranking Web of Repositories results, the repository was ranked 6th out of 57 in Africa and number 257 worldwide. Last year, the repository was ranked 7th in Africa. The improvement is a clear indication of the University’s academic and research growing portfolio. According to the results, the University of Pretoria Repository has been ranked best in Africa. In Kenya, Kenyatta University and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology repositories were ranked second and third respectively.

The improved rankings are against the backdrop of increased enrolment – UoN student population has grown tremendously over the last decade and currently stands at over 80,000 students up from 30,000 in 2004, making it the largest university in East Africa. Students enjoy the services of highly qualified academic staff comprising 154 Professors and 253 Associate Professors. It also has a research portfolio of KES 3.6 billion and over 1350 international linkages out of which 350 are active. UoN has graduated 174,000 students since its inception in 1970.

The University Senate congratulates members of staff and students for the good performance and challenges them to improve on these impressive results and benchmark with the best universities in the world.